Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Mar 21, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Mar 21, 2003 |
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Corporate
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Announcements Toyota to go slow on Corolla bookings K. Giriprakash
BANGALORE, March 20 TOYOTA has hit pay dirt with the launch of Corolla and is going slow on booking orders till the backlog is cleared. "We have temporarily gone slow on booking in order to meet the existing demand," a spokesperson for Toyota-Kirloskar Motor Ltd told Business Line. Launched in February, the Corolla sold 420 units the same month. The company has an order backlog of 2,000, which it plans to deliver by April. For 2003, it has set a target of 10,000 units. Developed at an investment of over Rs 70 crore, the ninth-generation luxury sedan has been adapted for Indian conditions and is being manufactured at the company's plant in Bidadi, Karnataka. The plant's current capacity is around 50,000 units of Corolla and the multi-purpose vehicle, Qualis. The company expects to have a market share of around 10 per cent by 2010 in all the segments. Currently, the Corolla has 55 per cent local content. However, the company plans to increase that figure soon. Toyota has so far sold more than 30 million Corollas in 142 countries worldwide. It accounts for around 25 per cent of its car sales globally. The Corolla comes equipped with a 1.8 litre, four-cylinder DOHC VVT-I engine with variable valve timing, for an output of 125 hp. Its price was reduced recently after the Government slashed excise duty on automobiles by eight per cent to 24 per cent. The price of the base model is around Rs 9 lakh. According to the spokesperson, the company has so far sold 343 units of the Camry since its launch in October 2002. It expects to sell around 1,000 units in 2003. The company is also in the process of finalising a new MPV model and may initially bring out another version of the Qualis. It expects to increase the market share of Qualis by seven per cent to 44 per cent. It has so far sold 79,000 units of the vehicle since its launch a few years ago. The spokesperson also said that the company was yet to take a decision on introducing the sports utility vehicle, Prado, in the Indian market. "We are studying the Indian market; we have not yet decided on the introduction of Prado in the market."
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